Ugly Amps Ugly 18 Head Review

Hey, are you Brit curious? Leave the radio
on long enough and it’s just a matter of
time before the characteristic “brang” and
“snarl” of classic EL84-based Brit amps
comes crashing through the speakers. Of
course, the plexi is best known for a decidedly
Brit brand of rock, but the Ugly 18 is
far from being a “one-trick pony.” Owner
Steve O’Boyle is quick to point out that
“these amps are not ‘clones’ of anything;
they are ‘inspired’ perhaps in the nature of
the topology, but the circuits have evolved
over time and through the requests of some
of my better clients.” For starters, Ugly
Amps makes two versions of the Ugly 18
head, one using PCB (list $799), and a handwired
version ($1099), which can be custom
voiced at no additional cost. Like a lot of
plexi-derived amps, the Ugly 18 is a non-master
volume amp that uses a dual 12AX7
and EL84 format, two input options and,
like other plexi-inspired amps, it also lacks
a reverb tank and effects loop. That said,
the addition of a standby switch came as a
welcome surprise.

U-G-L-Y You Ain’t Got No Alibi
O’Boyle says that the name Ugly “started
as a joke, but now it has become fun to
keep it anyway; it’s easy to remember with
so many people using last names…” While
the name might be a joke, the amp isn’t.
Steve has a degree in electronics, and his
ten years of amp work has paid off in one
cool little amp. Despite its size (15-1/2” x
9-3/4” x 11”) and its low-watt rating, the
Ugly 18 packs quite a punch. Don’t let the
minimalist controls put you off, because
there’s more than meets the eye. The Ugly
18 sports two inputs on the front, “normal”
and “bright,” one Volume knob for each
input jack, and a single Tone knob. Spinning
the Ugly 18 around reveals both a 4- and
8-ohm output jack. It should be noted, too,
that off the speaker jack there is a voltage
divider, so you can capture the amp’s sound
for recording or to send to a board. O’Boyle
also provides a quick word of caution: “you
still have to have the speaker connected
with this type; it is not a preamp out, it is
the whole amp... just as with an L-Pad.”

Although the Ugly 18 uses a PCB construction,
Steve O’Boyle says that there is a
big misconception concerning PCB-based
amps: “I would say there’s a tone myth,
there are pros and cons to every method
of construction; if well designed with good
components PCB amps can sound great.
There are issues with service work, but it
depends who does the work.”

Into the Fire
In order to give the Ugly 18 Head a thorough
testing, I press-ganged several of my
workhorse guitars into service: a Michael
Dolan Esquire, a late-nineties Guild Bluesbird,
and then later I called in the reserves, a MIJ
Strat with Bill Lawrence pickups, a late-fifties
Danelectro U1 and Gibson ES-125. Setting
the Ugly 18 volume and tone both at 12
o’clock, I plugged in the Dolan Esquire and
let it rip. Fans of Brit rock will completely dig
the Jeff Beck-era Yardbirds or early Led Zep
tones that radiated out of the Tone Tubby
1x12 deep cabinet. Chimey but punchy,
ballsy yet articulate, the Ugly 18 is a great
example of why low-watt EL84 based amps
have developed a cult following.

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